Brown Thomas is to open a new store on Dublin's Grafton Street, aimed at younger shoppers and selling upmarket US clothing and sportsware brands. The company said its trading profits would be around £3 million this year, while turnover at the flagship store would rise by 13 per cent to more than £63 million.
In an interview, the managing director of the Brown Thomas group, Mr Paul Kelly, said the new store would open in March in the former Marks & Spencer shop half way up Grafton Street. The building is currently used by Brown Thomas for selling toys and Christmas decorations. Mr Kelly originally planned to sell it.
The shop will be called BT2, and will have a separate logo and "feel". Mr Kelly said it would stock US and European clothing and sportsware brand names such as Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hillfiger, Armani, DKNY and Calvin Klein. The company plans to make the shop attractive to younger shoppers, easing their custom over time into the main store.
"We're launching a new concept in that store in March. It will be an American sportsware store, selling all the top US brands, Mr Kelly said. "It will be very different to what's in the country at the moment, and totally different to this (main Grafton Street) store here, but it will have an association with this store under the umbrella of BT.
"The idea is that the Brown Thomas customer won't be afraid to go across there, plus also you may get a younger person, who you will start weaning over there," he added.
Mr Kelly said it was important that Grafton Street kept its unique feel for shoppers, and insisted that the new store would contribute to this.
"What we're doing is not going to be the same as any English high street," he said. "It's a home grown sort of store, run by Irish people, designed by Irish people - okay, it's selling international labels - but it's not your average English High Street."
Trading profits for 1997 will be flat, coming in at last year's level of around £3 million, Mr Kelly said. This was due to redundancy programme costs in Cork and at a warehouse that Brown Thomas closed earlier this year, and to foreign exchange losses to do with the rise in the price of sterling.
Turnover at the flagship Grafton Street store rose by 13 per cent on last year, he added, and would exceed £63 million, he added.
Work at the company's Cork store, Cash's, was three quarters finished, Mr Kelly said, and this would increase its floor space from 50,000 to 75,000. When the extension was completed, he added, the store would be renamed as Brown Thomas Cork.
In April, work starts on Moon's in Galway, with refurbishment planned later in the year for Todd's in Limerick. Mr Kelly said he was actively considering changing the names of these stores to Brown Thomas also.
Commenting on the growth of out-of-town shopping centres, Mr Kelly said the opening of Quarryvale to the west of Dublin next year - which will include a large Marks & Spencer as well as a C & A - might impact upon trading on Grafton Street.
"But we're up 13 per cent in this store, and that's with a Debenhams and all the rest on the far side of the city, so that hasn't had an impact. I think if the city continues to put in the infrastructure in terms of car parks and the environment and safety, then the city will win," he said.
